


Another Life

by Heavenly_Bodies



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Hurt, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, mentions of Frank and Sam, mild canon-typical violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 18:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4490862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heavenly_Bodies/pseuds/Heavenly_Bodies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Another life, and the bruises still hid his secrets… Anything to hide what was still there beneath his skin- himself.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Life

**Author's Note:**

> Please note the trigger warning, there is a lot of abuse going on in this tiny little thing, so yeah, just, be aware.

A lifetime or two ago he would’ve hidden the bruises. He would have buried them under long sleeves and childhood dirt- just enough to play them off as the mild bruising of a young boy rough-housing in the fields; just enough to keep his secret. 

It was easier before Sam left, when Frank had two bodies to take his anger out on, not just one. But Sam did leave and the bruises got worse. So he acted out, became reckless, picking fights with any and every one- boys twice his size and four years his senior made it easier to hide, and he’d wear his bruises with pride, regardless of where they actually came from. It was another life, another way of living.

Then he left home, got away, or thought he had. But the bruises were still there, even if they no longer peppered his skin. He was still reckless, still eager to face down any idiot he ran across, still showing off his bruises like badges won in combat- just never the true bruises or the true badges of a battle he’d survived, but that would never fully heal. Now, another life, and the bruises still hid his secrets, though they were as likely to be in the imprint of a fist as the punishing grip of an enthusiastic lover. Anything to hide what was still there beneath his skin- himself.

Yet another life, and he still carried the bruises, was battered and beaten, but now it meant something. Every fresh bruise was a battle that needed to be fought, a life that needed to be defended; the grip of a lover who would never let him go. Every night in their quarters, Bones would kiss every bruise and every scratch, no matter how small. He’d murmur softly against his skin, so softly Jim couldn’t make out the words, and press his lips feather-light to his injuries- old and new, hidden and vivid. And every night, right before they drifted to sleep, Bones would press a kiss just above Jim’s heart and whisper words like love, safe, mine, and perfect. And in this life with Bones in his arms and in his heart, with a family who cared for him as much as he cared for them, the bruises didn’t hurt so much and maybe they were beginning to heal.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I haven't written anything like this in a long time, but I just needed it. I apologize for any... overly moroseness.


End file.
